UNITED NATIONS
Press Release
COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS COMPLETES DISCUSSION OF ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS
Commission on Human Rights
59th session
7 April 2003
Afternoon
The Commission on Human Rights concluded at an extended meeting this afternoon its annual consideration of economic, social and cultural rights, hearing from a long series of non-governmental organizations contending, among other things, that international financial institutions were not acting in the best interests of the poor nations and people.
….
Among NGOs addressing the afternoon meeting were: New Humanity (joint statement with International Young Catholic Students and International Organization for the Development of Freedom of Education), Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (joint statement with International Alliance of Women and Socialist International Women), Indian Council of Education, Colombian Commission of Jurists, Transnational Radical Party, Europe-Third World Centre, International Eucational Development, Inc., International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, American Association of Jurists, International League for the Rights and Liberation of peoples, Liberation, Asian Legal Resource Centre, Liberal International, Comit international pour le respect et l’application de la charte africaine des droits de l’homme et des peuples, Interfaith International, Organization for Defending Victims of Violence, Pax Romana, International Islamic Federation of Student Organizations, International Fellowship of Reconciliation, Fraternit Notre Dame, Inc.
…
ALI SALEEM, of Asian Legal Resource Centre, said the military Government of Myanmar was not genuine in its stated aspiration of ensuring the food security of people in Myanmar. The right to food in Myanmar was denied by more than mere neglect — it was a matter of principle.
In every sense, the State in Myanmar rested on the preeminence of the armed forces. Policies there were designed at the highest level to fulfil military needs first, without regard to civilian well-being. It was in the remote parts of Myanmar that the worst abuses of the right to food continued. The Government of Myanmar had failed to fulfill its obligations under international law and it alone must be held responsible for the pervasive food insecurity that continued to grip the country.
…
[Extracts from the UN Press Release]
Click here to access the AHRC-ALRC Press Release
